The online gaming operator Playtech has reported a considerable increase in revenue for the third quarter of this year, bringing the company back on its feet.
The current expectations are that it will surpass the revenue predictions for 2014. Last Wednesday, Playtech published its Q3 report, which it showed a revenue increase of over €116 million, a little over 28% average increase each year. The positive trend has continued during the first few weeks of the fourth quarter with a daily average increase of 22% compared to last year.
The centerpiece casino vertical again held the highest revenue count – a third of the overall revenue. On the other hand, service revenue increased by close to 20%. All revenue categories showed positive statistics except for category “other”, which remained unchanged. The earnings from sports wagering increased the most – near 110%. This is mostly due to the recent launch of a sportsbook website for the Italian company Gazzetta dello Sport.
Bingo category was up 9.5% and revenue from offline-based casinos managed to go over 20%. Even though poker revenue has been on the negative vertical throughout the rest of 2014, the Q3 numbers showed a 3% increase.
The market shares of the company throughout its international markets reported positive statistics as well. The third quarter for the Asian market rose over 35% of Playtech’s total revenue, compared to the second quarter. The European market still holds the biggest market share, more than a half.
The current CEO of Playtech assured shareholders that the company will continue to expand as shown from the number of deals it signed during this quarter. Mr. Weizer mentioned that after three new licenses were signed, the company is showing shareholders how its white-label portfolio can substantially increase its international operations and finances.
Weizer further stated that there is a big acquisition ahead of Playtech. During the first half of 2015, this new deal will bring the company “to the next level.” Strange it may seem, according to Weizer, the incoming 15% POC tax in the UK will place Playtech in a position where it will manage to sign a profitable deal. This is partially due to the massive budget the company became in possession of ever since William Hill Online paid a considerable amount of money to acquire a stake in the company.
Apart from the positive financial reports, acquisitions and growth, Playtech recently won a case in France, where it was accused of stealing intellectual property from Winamax.
Winamax is a leader in the online poker sector of the country. Two months ago, Winamax took legal actions against Playtech and a few of its license subsidiaries that were believed to have copied Winamax’s poker product, which had unique “hyper-turbo” lottery features. Earlier in October, the French court decided that the product of Winamax was “neither innovative nor original” and required of Winamax to pay an overall of €9,000 to three companies, which it accused of infringement.
